Tag Archives: American Association for State and Local History

Your Tours Aren’t the Problem—Your Outcomes Are

Leave a reply

If you’ve ever wondered whether the challenges you’re facing at your historic site or house museum are typical or unusual, there is some collective evidence to draw on.

For the past decade, Ken Turino and I have led Reimagining Historic House Museums workshops across the country for the American Association for State and Local History, based on our book of the same name. We begin each workshop with a simple but revealing question: What is the greatest challenge facing your site?

We have collected these responses from a wide range of locations (such Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Wisconsin, Texas, and Maryland) from a wide range of participants (staff, boardmembers, and volunteers). From a sampling of these lists, I used ChatGPT to analyze and synthesize the responses into the seven overarching issues, each representing a structural or strategic challenge. While the data was not collected in a scientific manner (participants are self-selecting, not random), the consistency of responses across regions and institution types is striking.

The most frequently cited—and arguably most consequential—is relevance and interpretive stagnation.

Continue reading →

AASLH’s Workforce Report: Redesign the Field—or Just Endure It?

Title page of the "Understanding the Public History Workforce" report.

AASLH has released Understanding the Public History Workforce, a major new study examining who works in history organizations and how they experience their jobs. Read on its own, it offers important insights into burnout, compensation, inclusion, and professional climate. But its full significance becomes clearer when placed alongside two earlier field-wide studies: the National Museum Salary Survey (AAM, 2017) and the National Census of History Organizations (AASLH, 2022). 

Together, these three efforts give us something rare in the cultural sector: a layered dataset. The Census tells us the size and structure of the history organization field. The Salary Survey establishes a compensation range for the museum field as a whole. The new Workforce Report adds the human experience dimension in history organizations.  They don’t align perfectly, but sufficiently to make some findings and recommendations for history museums, historical societies, preservation organizations, and historic sites. 

Start With Scale and Structure

The 2022 Census identified 21,588 history organizations in the United States —more than all other museum types combined. History organizations are ubiquitous, present in nearly every community. The Census also emphasizes the field’s distinctive “hybrid” character: it’s often a partnership between government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

This structure matters. A field composed largely of small, community-based institutions operating within hybrid public–nonprofit governance systems will behave differently than corporate sectors or centralized public systems. Authority is diffuse. Revenue is mixed (appropriations, philanthropy, earned income). Asset accumulation is limited. Management is complex.

The structure shapes the results.

Continue reading →

Reimagining the Historic House Museum coming to Nashville in July

Ken Turino introducing the Reimagining House Museum workshop at Bayou Bend, Houston, 2025.

In July, Ken Turino and I will be leading the one-day Reimagining the Historic House Museum workshop on Friday, July 10, 2026, at Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s designed specifically for people working at house museums and historic sites who are wrestling with familiar questions: How do we refresh our programs? Attract new audiences? And build a more sustainable future without losing what makes our site special? Registration is $225 for AASLH members and $350 for nonmembers.

The day combines current social and economic research with practical tools drawn from nonprofit management and business strategy. Participants conduct a holistic assessment of public programs, explore examples of sites that are successfully reinventing themselves, and take part in a facilitated brainstorming session that puts new ideas into practice using a real house museum as a case study.

Continue reading →

From Standards to Spectrums: Why Museum Practice Is Better Understood as a Matrix

One of the things I keep returning to in my teaching and consulting is how much museum work actually lives along a spectrum—not in binary terms of success or failure, right or wrong, compliant or noncompliant.

This is one of the persistent challenges of working with professional standards. Standards are essential. They articulate shared values, define public trust, and help the field hold itself accountable. But by their nature, standards can imply an all-or-nothing logic: either you are doing the thing or you are not. And if you are not, that’s a problem.

Museum management, of course, is far more complex.

Museums and historic sites operate with widely varying levels of capacity, expertise, staffing, governance maturity, and external pressure. Boards change. Funding fluctuates. Crises intervene. Even within a single organization, some areas of work may be highly developed while others lag behind—not because of neglect or incompetence, but because of constrained resources and competing priorities.

Over time, I’ve become interested in how we might better describe and normalize that reality for the field—without lowering expectations or abandoning standards altogether.

Why a Matrix (Not a Scorecard)

In different contexts, I’ve heard similar tools described as rubrics, spectrums, continuums, or maturity models. In my own work, I’ve settled on calling this a matrix, for a very specific reason: it allows us to look across multiple areas of practice at once.

Once you do that, patterns start to emerge.

Continue reading →

Heading to Cincinnati for AASLH—Will You Be There?

This week I’m heading to Cincinnati for the American Association for State and Local History’s Annual Meeting—and I couldn’t be more excited. After a couple of years of scheduling conflicts that kept me away, I’m very much looking forward to reconnecting with colleagues and friends from across the country.

If you’ll be there, I hope to see you at the History Leadership Institute reception on Wednesday afternoon. If we miss each other then, perhaps we’ll cross paths in the exhibit hall or between sessions. Please do say hello—I always enjoy hearing what others are working on.

I’ve been fortunate to visit many of Cincinnati’s museums over the years, but there’s always more to discover. I’m especially looking forward to Friday morning’s walking tour of the Over-the-Rhine District (which includes a special preview of the new OTR Museum) and Friday night’s reception at the American Sign Museum. There are so many museums to see and I can easily recommend the Cincinnati Art Museum, Taft Museum of Art (in a historic house), Harriet Beecher Stowe House, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Cincinnati Museum Center (a multi-museum complex in a splendid Art Deco train station). In addition, I’ll make a return visit to two places within walking distance: the 21c Museum Hotel (a surprising blend of luxury hotel and contemporary art museum—what are they doing now?) and the Contemporary Arts Center (by Zaha Hadid, the first woman to design an art museum in the US—how it is holding up?).

It promises to be a week full of learning, inspiration, and connection. I hope to see many of you in Cincinnati!

Reimagining Historic House Museums: Two Workshops Coming Up!

House museums across the country are confronting difficult questions about relevance, sustainability, and meaning in the 21st century. What worked twenty years ago—traditional tours, decorative arts displays, and carefully preserved interiors—often isn’t enough today to engage visitors or generate financial stability. Communities are changing, audiences have new expectations, and historic sites are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their value.

That’s why Ken Turino (formerly at Historic New England) and I developed Reimagining the Historic House Museum, an intensive one-day workshop that helps professionals and volunteers tackle these challenges head-on. Over the past decade, we’ve led this program at sites across the United States, working with hundreds of staff, board members, and volunteers to think creatively about interpretation, audience engagement, and business models. Each workshop is highly interactive, blending case studies, small-group activities, and practical exercises. Participants leave not only with new ideas, but with concrete tools to implement change at their own sites.

This fall and next spring, we’ll be offering two opportunities to join us in person:

Continue reading →

AASLH’s Interpreting History Series Now on Sale

If you’re looking to expand your bookshelf this summer, now’s a great time to explore the Interpreting History series from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). Bloomsbury is currently offering 10–15% off the entire series—an excellent opportunity to add fresh perspectives on interpretation to your library.

Among them is my newest title, Interpreting Christmas, co-authored with Ken Turino. We examine how museums and historic sites can thoughtfully interpret winter holidays in ways that are inclusive, community-centered, and grounded in historical research. If you’ve ever struggled with how (or whether) to “do” Christmas at your site, this book offers a framework—and lots of practical examples.

Even better: AASLH members always receive 20% off all titles in the series, including those not currently on sale. If you’re not already a member, it’s a great time to join.

This sale also comes at a turning point for AASLH’s publishing program. Earlier this year, Bloomsbury acquired Rowman & Littlefield’s academic publishing business, expanding the reach of the Interpreting History series to a much broader international audience.

Of course, most of us don’t write museum books for the royalties (we know we’re not Nora Ephron—or even Nora Roberts). The real reward is seeing our work spark ideas, inspire change, and shape the way history is shared with the public. So whether you’re an interpreter, educator, or site manager, pick up a volume or two—and join the conversation.

Webinar: Interpreting Winter Holidays with Your Community

The winter holidays are some of the most beloved and heavily attended times of year for museums and historic sites—but interpreting them can be a challenge. Whose stories are told? What traditions are represented? How can we ensure our programs are welcoming, accurate, and relevant to our communities?

If you’ve been asking these questions, join me at an upcoming webinar hosted by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH):

  • “Interpreting Winter Holidays with Your Community”
  • Wednesday, June 12, 2025, 3:00–4:00 PM Eastern
  • $45 / $25 for AASLH members
  • Register here

I’ll be speaking alongside Ken Turino, Martha Katz-Hyman, and Morgan Lloyd, each of whom brings experience and insights into crafting more inclusive, community-centered holiday programs. We’ll explore ways that museums and historic sites can move beyond nostalgic or monolithic narratives and instead embrace a richer variety of traditions and histories—from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa, from secular seasonal festivals to the complexities of Christmas. Whether you’re revamping long-standing programs or launching something new, this session will offer fresh ideas, examples, and practical steps for engaging your community during the holiday season.

In my portion of the webinar, I’ll share strategies for refreshing an existing Christmas event by incorporating research on state and local history, helping organizations better connect with their communities and interpret traditions in a meaningful context.

The webinar is inspired in part by the recent book Interpreting Christmas at Museums and Historic Sites, which Ken and I co-edited and which features contributions from many practitioners grappling with these same questions. As a bonus, webinar attendees will receive a 30% discount on the book.

What is the Future of Interpretation at Historic House Museums?

The world of historic house museums has been grappling with fundamental questions about purpose and sustainability for many years. Two significant gatherings, the Kykuit II Summit in 2007 and the recent 2025 Historic House Summit, highlight key moments in this ongoing discussion. Bridging these two events is the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) STEPS program, particularly its standards for interpretation, which emerged directly from the needs identified in that earlier period. Looking at these three points in time reveals not only evolving ideas but also the increasing urgency and specific challenges facing interpretation today. 

The Kykuit II Summit: The Call for Sustainability and Standards

The Kykuit II Summit, held in April 2007 at the John D. Rockefeller estate, brought together leaders to discuss “the sustainability of historic sites.” This was a follow-up to a similar meeting five years prior. The discussions focused on finding ways for historic sites, the largest segment of the museum community, to thrive. Key questions included the challenging, “unmentionable” ones: “Does America need another house museum?” or “Can America support the existing historic sites it now has?”

Continue reading →

Interpreting Historic House Museums Today: Reflections on the 2025 AASLH Summit

By Mary A. van Balgooy, Vice President, Engaging Places LLC

Last week, I attended the 2025 AASLH Historic House Museums Summit, “Interpreting Historic House Museums Today,” held at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. Over 100 museum professionals from across the country came together to assess where interpretation stands today and how it should evolve over the next decade. The Summit’s objectives were clear: attendees would examine the current scope of historic house interpretation, identify trends for the next 10-15 years, and define the major issues shaping the field. Through keynotes, breakout sessions, and informal discussions, attendees tackled major questions about our roles, responsibilities, and hopes for the sector.

Big Ideas from the 2025 AASLH Summit

One of the most powerful themes to emerge was the need to embrace “whole history.” Instead of narrowly focusing on furniture, technology, or architectural details, participants stressed telling a full, human-centered story. This includes voices often left out of traditional interpretation: women, people of color, laborers, and marginalized groups. The idea is not merely to add these perspectives but to reframe interpretation through them, reflecting the complexity and moral ambiguity of historical figures and events.

A second major idea was that historic house museums must move beyond passive presentation into active engagement. Museums should create dialogic experiences where visitors reflect, question, and even challenge the past. Skills like listening, civil discourse, and conflict navigation were identified as essential for future staff training.

Finally, participants stressed the importance of using interpretation as a tool for healing and community building. At a time of social division, historic sites have a unique role to play in fostering empathy, historical curiosity, and nuanced understanding.

Findings and Recommendations

Continue reading →